Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is a

National Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organ ...

sanctuary located in southwest

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, north of

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

and east of

Bonita Springs (beautiful), eng, beautiful springs , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Bonita_Beach.JPG , imagesize = 250x200px , image_caption = Bonita Beach , image_flag ...

, in the United States. The sanctuary was established to protect one of the largest remaining stands of bald cypress (''Taxodium distichum'') and

pond cypress ''Taxodium ascendens'', also known as pond cypress, is a deciduous conifer of the genus ''Taxodium'', native to North America. Many botanists treat it as a variety of bald cypress, ''Taxodium distichum'' (as ''T. distichum'' var. ''imbricatum'' ...

(''T. ascendens'') in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

from extensive logging that was ongoing throughout the 1940s and 1950s.

History

The Corkscrew Cypress Rookery Association was formed in 1954 to protect the area. The National Audubon Society accepted responsibility for management and started constructing the first

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of bridge ...

through the swamp in 1955. In all, nearly of wetland was purchased or donated, most of it from or by the owners, Lee Tidewater Cypress Center Co. and Collier Enterprises. In 2018, researchers at the Sanctuary determined that beginning around the year 2000, the amount of groundwater in the park began to diminish. Records have been kept of water levels beginning in 1957, and analysis determined that previous changes in the landscape – such as the building of Immokalee Road, the use of canals to drain land for real estate development, the increase in agriculture in the area, the installation of electrical and telephone lines, or the paving over of neighboring wetlands – had not altered the water levels, which are measured at Lettuce Lake, the park's deepest standing water. But since 2000 or 2001, despite the same amount of annual rainfall during the wet season, during the dry season the water now drains away quickly instead of slowly receding as it had done in the past. The cause of the change is unknown – there was no major topographical change at the time – but the cause and the effects of the drier dry season for the Sanctuary and surrounding

Collier County Collier County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 375,752; an increase of 16.9% since the 2010 United States Census. Its county seat is East Naples, where the county offices were moved from E ...

are under investigation.Stanley, Greg (May 12, 2018
"Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary losing water; scientists wonder why"
'' Naples Daily News''

Park offerings and amenities

A boardwalk of a little over length provides walking access through pine flatwoods,

wet prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

, stands of

and bald cypress, and

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

ecosystems within the sanctuary. In 2017, some parts of the boardwalk were damaged by bald cypress trees knocked over by Hurricane Irma. Most of the damage was repaired, but several small sections have been permanently closed. The sanctuary is a gateway site for the

Great Florida Birding Trail Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail (''GFBWT'') is a 2,000 mile (3200 km) long collection of more than 500 locations in the U.S. state of Florida where the state's bird habitats are protected. The trail promotes birdwatching, environmenta ...

. It is an important breeding area for the endangered wood stork and other wetland birds. It also has wintering passerines, including the

painted bunting The painted bunting (''Passerina ciris'') is a species of bird in the cardinal family, Cardinalidae. It is native to North America. The bright plumage of the male only comes in the second year of life; in the first year they can only be distingu ...

. Numerous wading bird species can be found in the wetlands of the sanctuary, including the

yellow-crowned night heron The yellow-crowned night heron (''Nyctanassa violacea''), is one of two species of night herons found in the Americas, the other one being the black-crowned night heron. It is known as the ''bihoreau violacé'' in French and the ''pedrete corona ...

black-crowned night heron The black-crowned night heron (''Nycticorax nycticorax''), or black-capped night heron, commonly shortened to just night heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, including parts of Europe, Asia, and N ...

, tricolored heron,

great egret The great egret (''Ardea alba''), also known as the common egret, large egret, or (in the Old World) great white egret or great white heron is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and ...

, and

snowy egret The snowy egret (''Egretta thula'') is a small white heron. The genus name comes from Provençal French for the little egret, , which is a diminutive of , 'heron'. The species name ''thula'' is the Araucano term for the black-necked swan, app ...

. Specialist birds include limpkin, barred owl and, in summer, swallow-tailed kite. American alligators and cottonmouth snakes are also inhabitants of the sanctuary. The sanctuary visitor center is a

Living Machine Living Machine is a form of ecological sewage treatment. Similar to Solar Aquatics Systems, the latest generation of the technology is based on fixed-film ecology. The Living Machine system was commercialized and is marketed by Living Machine Sy ...

demonstration site.

Gallery

File:Corkscrew swamp sanctuary 2.jpg, One of the many boardwalks in the sanctuary File:Corkscrew swap sanctuary, Florida.jpg, A sawgrass prairie File:Egretta caerulea, Little Blue Heron.jpg, Male little blue heron File:Male Anolis carolinensis.jpg, Male '' Anolis carolinensis'' File:Alligator mississippiensis (American alligator) 7.jpg, Adult American Alligator File:Corkscrew swamp sanctuary 3.jpg,

Tillandsia ''Tillandsia'' is a genus of around 650 species of evergreen, perennial flowering plants in the family Bromeliaceae, native to the forests, mountains and deserts of northern Mexico and south-eastern United States, Mesoamerica and the Caribbean to ...

species

References

Notes Further reading *

External links

*
Corkscrew Swamp Online Picture Tour
{{authority control Nature reserves in Florida National Natural Landmarks in Florida Swamps of Florida Nature centers in Florida Protected areas of Collier County, Florida National Audubon Society Ramsar sites in the United States Landforms of Collier County, Florida 1954 establishments in Florida Protected areas established in 1954